WHAT STUART GORDON REALLY WANTS TO DO IS PICK MOVIES FOR US

The good news for local film lovers in the past decade has been the resurgence of revival mainstay New Beverly Cinema, which at one point seemed likely to lose its lease but has soldiered on, in no small part thanks to the tremendous success of its director-curated film series, bringing the filmmakers who thrill us down to Beverly Boulevard to celebrate the movies that thrill them. This week its "Films Selected by Stuart Gordon," creator of indelible horror classics such as Re-Animator and From Beyond in the house with a terrifically diverse slate of some of his favorite films, a wide variety of titles that is refreshingly light on horror (though his pick for Friday nights midnight feature, Gaspar Noes controversial Irreversible, is about 10 times more horrifying than most films in the traditional genre). Upcoming titles through next week vary, from True Grit to A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, but tonights double bill is the intriguing coupling of 1947s Nightmare Alley, with Tyrone Power pulling scams in the world of carnies; and Burt Lancaster in 1968s adaptation of John Cheevers compelling character study, The Swimmer. Gordon will attend a handful of screenings, which hell discuss.
Jan. 15-21, 2010